


Words Are Hard To Speak

by Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Animal Transformation, M/M, Magical Realism, Rated T for language, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28464447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool/pseuds/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool
Summary: ' “Hey guys, where’s Calum?”“He fell asleep with me,” Michael lifted his head, “He was just over- oh.” He stopped when he saw the pile of blankets, with no Calum in sight.Sitting up and letting Michael go, Ashton frowned. “Calum?” He called out.It was then that the pile of blankets started to move, shuffling forwards until it bumped into Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow in confusion, but lifted the blankets up.Underneath was a brown labradoodle puppy with one black paw and big brown eyes. Its tail was wagging a mile a minute, and Luke laughed in disbelief.“Calum?” Michael asked, directing it at the puppy, which was kinda stupid, but the puppy barked in response, running in a little circle.“I guess this curse is catching then,” Ashton said, getting up. '
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood/Ashton Irwin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	Words Are Hard To Speak

**Author's Note:**

> What better way than to start off 2021 than with a fic that wouldn't look out of place in 2014. Because I miss the past and a simpler time. Whatever. <3
> 
> Sorry for any formatting mistakes, for some reason it didn't copy over the paragraph spacing and also im too impatient to get it beta read.

It started when Luke woke up in his bunk, some sort of fabric wrapped around his face. He flailed a little, trying to pull it off, when he realised he couldn't move his arms. And he didn't have any hands.

He tried to call out for help, flailing more, starting to panic, but all that came out was a muffled squawk.

Luckily, this was loud enough to attract attention, as he soon heard the curtain of his bunk open, a small amount of light visible through the fabric.

"Luke?" Came Michael's voice, sounding confused. Luke squawked again, and the fabric over his eyes was removed.

"What the fuck," and ow, Michael's voice was a lot louder than he remembered, and Luke made what he hoped was a disgruntled noise.

Michael reached into Luke's bunk and lifted him up and what the fuck why was Michael able to hold him in his hands.

Luke flailed, not quite trusting Michael's grip, but Michael held him tighter, pressing him into his chest, one arm underneath Luke's body to give him a perch, the other firmly around him to stop him toppling over.

"Guys," Michael said as he entered the lounge area. Luke wiggled a bit, trying to get to Calum who was closest. "I think Luke's turned into a penguin."

A penguin. That's why Luke didn't have hands and could be easily picked up by Michael.

Calum looked up, mouth already opening to call Michael an idiot, probably, but he promptly shut it again when he saw Luke in Michael's arms.

"What the fuck?" Ashton said, as Michael came to sit down next to him.

Luke squirmed, and Michael finally let him go. He didn't manage to get far, as he was quickly lifted up by Ashton, lifted into the air above him. Ashton was grinning, looking incredibly fond, and Luke stopped being so irritated. Ashton's grip was firmer than Michael's, so Luke didn't mind being held by him.

"How do you know it's Luke?" Came Calum's voice, and Luke squawked again.

"Well he was in Luke's bunk, wrapped in the clothes Luke was wearing last night. And Luke isn't anywhere else, is he?"

"He's got Luke's eyes still," Ashton said, and Luke cooed softly. Ashton laughed, bumping his nose against Luke's beak.

Ashton eventually handed Luke over to Calum, who also had a pretty strong grip.

Once Calum had fawned over him for a bit, Luke was settled in Michael's lap while the other three discussed what had happened.

Luke didn't care much for the conversation, he was just appreciative of the warmth coming from Michael and the low rumble of his voice. Luke didn't realised he'd drifted off until he was being woken up by someone picking him up again.

"Hey Luke, have a nice nap?" Ashton asked, laughter evident in his voice. Luke snuggled into his chest. "Aww, you're too cute," Ashton kissed the top of his head, "You should stay like this forever. Michael can sing your parts."

Luke tried to scowl, but it didn't come across very well. Ashton seemed to understand though, as he laughed. "Nah, we wouldn't do that. We need your pretty face to bring the crowds in. Although I think if everyone knew you'd turned into an adorable baby penguin they'd definitely be more interested."

Luke huffed, flapping his wings in complaint. Ashton just laughed again.

"Cal and Mikey are out getting food, they should be back soon. I have been given strict instructions to not post any photos of you, even though I think the fans would love it."

Luke kicked his feet a little, wanting to be put down. He was getting restless, wanted to walk around a bit.

Ashton seemed to get the message, setting him down on the floor. Luke waddled around, quite wobbly. A few times Ashton had to quickly stop him from falling, although a few times he missed, and Luke ended up on his ass, struggling to get up again.

Eventually, Calum and Michael returned with food, and they settled around the table, Luke perched in Calum's lap, stealing his fries.

After they'd eaten and dicked around for a bit, they retreated into the back lounge. Michael set up a game of Mario Kart for him and Calum while Ashton settled in with Luke in his lap, curled in the corner of the couch.

Luke made a pleased noise, tucking his beak down below his wing and leaning into Ashton's chest. Ashton chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around Luke in a proper cuddle.

###

Luke was incredibly excited to wake up human the next day, even if he woke up naked cuddled up to Ashton. He made his way to his bunk and got dressed, before heading back into the lounge and slipping back under the blanket Ashton was clutching.

Ashton huffed softly, throwing and arm around Luke's waist and tugging him closer. Across the room, on the other half of the couch, Michael stirred, blinking blearily and meeting Luke's eyes with a squint.

"Luke!" Michael grinned, slightly more awake. "You're not a penguin!"

Luke giggled, "Nope! Human again. Although I did enjoy the snuggles."

"Looks like Ashton's still enjoying the snuggles," Michael said, and Ashton grumbled, flipping him off without opening his eyes.

Michael laughed, kicking his blanket off and throwing himself across the room, landing on top of Luke and Ashton. Ashton yelped in surprise, attempting to shove him off. Michael clung tight, like an octopus, and eventually succeeded in dragging both Ashton and Luke onto the floor.

Ashton huffed, wrapping an arm around Michael’s waist and locking him in place. This didn’t seem to bother him, as he wiggled a bit before settling down.

Luke looked across the room to invite Calum into the snuggle pile, when he realised something important.

“Hey guys, where’s Calum?”

“He fell asleep with me,” Michael lifted his head, “He was just over- oh.” He stopped when he saw the pile of blankets, with no Calum in sight.

Sitting up and letting Michael go, Ashton frowned. “Calum?” He called out.

It was then that the pile of blankets started to move, shuffling forwards until it bumped into Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow in confusion, but lifted the blankets up.  
Underneath was a brown labradoodle puppy with one black paw and big brown eyes. Its tail was wagging a mile a minute, and Luke laughed in disbelief.

“Calum?” Michael asked, directing it at the puppy, which was kinda stupid, but the puppy barked in response, running in a little circle.

“I guess this curse is catching then,” Ashton said, getting up.

Michael ruffled Calum’s ears, laughing as he tried to bite his hand, “I dunno, I wouldn’t call it a curse. I think I prefer Cal like this. Ow!” Michael cried out as Calum managed to latch his sharp puppy teeth onto his finger.

Luke laughed, following Ashton into the kitchen area and leaving Michael to entertain the new tour puppy.

Luke and Ashton got some breakfast together and brought it back to the lounge where Michael seemed to have given up playing with Calum and was instead letting him climb over him. Calum seemed quite happy, tail wagging as he snuffled about, occasionally stopping to lick Michael’s jaw or bite his nose.

“What are we gonna do about getting to the hotel?” Ashton asked, once they’d all eaten breakfast. “There’s probably gonna be fans, people might wonder where Calum is...”

Calum looked up when he heard his name, trotting over to Ashton and looking up at him imploringly. Ashton laughed and picked him up, “Yeah, you,” he said, and Luke couldn’t help but grin at the baby voice Ashton used. Calum licked his face.

Luke looked over to Michael, who was also watching Calum and Ashton with an incredibly fond look.

“I don’t think getting to the hotel is all we need to worry about,” Luke eventually said, trying to shake the heart eyes he was sure he was sporting. “We have a show tomorrow. What do we do if one of you two ends up a tiny furry creature?”

Ashton frowned, “I guess we could just say we have food poisoning and get a tech to sub in.”

Calum barked, wriggling out of Ashton’s grip and bounding over to Luke.

“I guess we’ll have to,” Luke shrugged, picking Calum up and setting him in his lap, laughing as he struggled to stay still, paws slipping on Luke’s jeans.

When the bus got to the hotel, they managed to make it inside with minimal issue, with Ashton bullshitting their tour manager and Calum a little disgruntled at being passed around and not allowed to walk on the floor. Luke and Ashton left their luggage in the room they were sharing, before immediately heading over to Michael and Calum’s room.  
They ended up all sprawled across one of the beds, minus Calum, who was having a lot of fun sniffing around the room and hiding Michael’s socks without him noticing. Luke couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched.

“What was it like to be an animal then?” Ashton asked, distracting Luke from Calum’s mischief. “Were you aware of everything that was happening or what?”

Luke hummed, thinking for a moment, “It was super confusing at first cuz like, I couldn’t tell what was going on. I could understand you guys and still had human thoughts, but also some stuff was instinct. So I assume right now Calum can hear what we’re saying, but his puppy brain is far more interested in the new stuff all around, so he’s probably not listening.”

“We should probably try and take him for a walk later,” Calum’s ears perked up and Ashton laughed, picking him up and helping him onto the bed. Calum made a beeline for Michael, biting his nose before turning in a circle a few times and flopping down with a huff, head tucked under Michael’s chin.

Michael grinned, resting a hand on Calum’s back and gently petting his belly. His hand spanned almost the entirety of Calum’s body, and Calum wriggled around until he was on his back, tail thumping against the bed sheets when Michael gave him proper belly rubs.

It was sickeningly cute, and Luke thought maybe the curse wasn’t so bad after all.

###

Just like the night before, the four of them ended up falling asleep together, however when they woke up, all of them were human.

Calum seemed a little disappointed, although Luke thought he probably just wanted an excuse to be cuddled and get attention all the time.

They made it to the end of the day without incident, show going off without a hitch, and headed back to the bus. Without saying anything, they all went straight to the back lounge, snuggling up together just like before. The whole curse had made them all even more tactile, Luke thought. It must have been the curse, since it was affecting Ashton too, and he usually wasn’t too keen on group cuddles.

“So I guess the curse knows our schedule then,” Michael said, as his threw an arm over Calum’s shoulders.

“It’s weird,” Luke mumbled, resting his head on Ashton’s chest.

Ashton shrugged, “I say we accept the blessing for what it is and don’t question it. Things are already weird enough.”

They fell asleep together again, an easy habit already formed, and when they woke up Michael was gone.

Calum was instantly alarmed, as he’d been sleeping on top of Michael.

“If he’s something small I don’t wanna hurt him!” He cried, tugging the cushions off until he suddenly gasped.

“Oh my god! Michael’s a kitten!” Calum turned around, hands cupped together supporting an absolutely tiny blonde tabby kitten.

Michael, for his part, just blinked, looking only mildly perturbed. And that was probably just from being woken up. Calum seemed absolutely enamoured by Michael as a kitten. Although Luke was starting to suspect that Calum was just enamoured by Michael.

Luke found himself liking that idea more than he probably should.

They had a day of travelling ahead of them and, as seemed to be the norm recently, they spent most of it tucked away in the back lounge, teasing Michael with bits of string. He seemed particularly interesting in Ashton’s hoodie strings, swatting at them and trying to climb up Ashton’s chest, while Ashton tried not to rub his eyes too much. Eventually Luke took Michael away from him and sent him out the room to find some antihistamines.

“Hey Cal,” Luke asked, cradling Michael against his chest. Michael seemed content, purring softly. “What was it like for you, being transformed?”

Calum thought for a moment, leaning into Luke’s side to pet at Michael’s soft little head.

“I heard your conversation, when you described it,” He said quietly, “But I didn’t really want to listen? Like, I was more interested in sniffing everything. It was so strange. Dog senses are like superpowers! So I guess Michael can probably hear everything, but he’s more inclined to sleep and hunt things, so he’s probably not listening.”

Michael made a small ‘mrrp’ noise at the mention of his name, stretching out before twisting onto his back and blinking up at Luke. Calum stroked Michael’s belly with one finger (he was so tiny), laughing as Michael instantly latched on, trying to bite him.

Luke felt something bubble in his chest, an ache that was almost unbearable. Damn this curse, making him feel things for his band mates.

Ashton suddenly burst into the back room, clutching something in his hands, a grin on his face.

“I know how to stop the curse!” He bounded over, instantly starting to explain.

“So, I went to the corner store nearby and there was this girl there who was a fan, said she’d been following us, trying to meet us. And she knew about the curse! Her and her friends had been messing about with something, I dunno, witchy stuff. She said they must’ve accidentally directed the curse at the poster she had of us!”

Calum frowned, clearly suspicious. “That sounds like a load of shit.”

“I know, but she literally walked up to me and was like, ‘Hey have you guys had an animal related problem recently.’ And when I said yeah she started explaining everything. It was wild.”

“Alright,” Luke started, before Calum could object again. "What did she give you then?”

Ashton held out his hand, showing what he was clutching. In his palm sat a small purple crystal, attached to a necklace string that seemed to have been snapped in great haste. The crystal seemed to glow slightly in Ashton’s palm, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Calum reached out, carefully picking it up.

“What’s this for then?”

“She said the first person that the curse affected has to wear it for at least twenty four hours. If we don’t, the curse will just keep cycling through. It has to finish a cycle first, so I’ll still be affected, but after that we don’t have to worry about it ever again.”

Still frowning, Calum handed the necklace over to Luke, who retied the knot and slipped it over his head. It rested just above his heart, still pulsing gently. It was mildly disconcerting.

“That sounds way too simple,” Calum said eventually. “But I suppose it can’t hurt to try.”

###

Michael woke up human the next day and was informed of the cure.

And Ashton was a bear.

Luke woke up to a heavy weight on his chest where Ashton had been resting his head, fur in his mouth, and Calum shaking his shoulder.

“Luke, not to alarm you. But Ashton appears to be a bear cub.”

The weight on his chest shifted, making a snuffling noise and pressed a cold, wet nose into Luke’s neck, making him shriek in surprise, waking both Michael and the bear, which blinked at him with Ashton’s hazel eyes.

Groaning, Luke shoved Ashton a couple of times until he slid onto the floor with a huff, before standing up on his back legs.

“I didn’t know bears could do that,” Calum said, surprised, as Ashton batted at the door handle. Thwarted by lack of opposable thumbs.

“They’re surprisingly dexterous,” Michael mumbled, looking about ready to roll over and go back to sleep.

Calum snorted, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were a bear expert.”

Luke got dressed while Calum and Michael bickered, and then helped Ashton open the door. Ashton dropped down onto all fours, trotting into the main bus area, snuffling around and exploring everything.

It was interesting to watch, and the very least. Luke didn’t think he’d ever seen a real life bear before, even a little cub like Ashton was. He puttered about making coffee for everyone, keeping one eye on Ashton as he explored, until he heard a clatter from the back lounge, followed by a, “what the fuck?” from Calum.

Luke glanced down to find Ashton reaching up already, arms outstretched. He picked him up and set him on his hip like a baby, before heading back to the back lounge to see what the commotion about.

What he wasn’t expecting was to find Calum sprawled on the couch, Michael gripping the front of his shirt and snogging the breath from his lungs, it seemed.

“Uhhh-”

Michael pulled away, the pair of them panting, and turned to look at Luke.

“We were gonna wait for you!” Calum said, and Michael smacked the back of his head.

Clearing his throat, Michael stumbled to his feet. “Actually, we said we were gonna wait until Ashton was human again. Didn’t wanna leave him out.”

He reached out, gently scratching behind Ashton’s ear. Ashton looked delighted, trying to grab Michael’s hand, but he was once again thwarted by lack of opposable thumbs.

“So...” Luke chewed his lip, shifting his grip on Ashton a little. “When did you guys start... Kissing?”

“Just this morning! Literally like five minutes ago. Don’t lie, this whole curse thing has been making us all feel things.”

Luke thought back, so sitting in a hotel room watching Calum steal Michael’s socks. To how protected he felt when he was a penguin and Ashton held him. He just thought he’d been the only one to feel like that.

“So is this gonna become a regular thing between you two?”

Michael looked slightly nervous. Calum hadn’t moved from the couch, but he was the one to speak.

“Well... We were hoping you and Ash would want to join in too.”

Ashton tugged at Luke’s shirt, squirming slightly, and Luke set him down on the floor. He bounded over to Calum and climbed into his lap, setting his arms over his shoulders in what was almost a hug. Calum’s laugh sounded like the breath had been punched out of him. He must’ve been more nervous than he let on.

Luke’s attention was stolen then, by Michael’s warm hand settling on his jaw.

“So?” Michael murmured, and it took Luke a moment to realise what he was asking.

Instead of answering verbally, he leant in to connect their lips.

###

Luke woke up to Michael’s arms wrapped around his waist and the sounds of Calum and Ashton kissing audible over the rumble of the bus.

It was a much better wakeup call than the presence of a small animal instead of a bandmate, that was for sure.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos comments whatever. 
> 
> Tumblr tag: [Here!](https://mastasof-ravenkroft.tumblr.com/search/animal!sos)


End file.
